


Live Together

by TheCakeSlayer



Category: Vikings (TV)
Genre: Adult Bjorn (Vikings), Car Accidents, Cute, F/M, Happy Ending, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Ivar (Vikings) is a Little Shit, Jealousy, M/M, One Big Happy Family, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possessive Behavior, Protective Older Brothers, Protectiveness, References to Drugs, Singing, Sub Ivar (Vikings)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:21:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28354617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCakeSlayer/pseuds/TheCakeSlayer
Summary: When Bjorn notices what's happening between his brothers, he goes to his step mother's house to find that they are at each other's throats. After weeks of trying to behave, they all explode. What happens when Ivar gets involved in an accident, and he meets a man named Heahmund? Well, I'll explain: they become the most over protective brothers no one have ever seen. What's the chain reaction?
Relationships: Bjorn & Hvitserk & Ivar & Sigurd & Ubbe (Vikings), Bjorn & Ivar (Vikings), Floki/Helga (Vikings), Heahmund & Ivar (Vikings), Heahmund/Ivar (Vikings), Hvitserk & Ivar & Sigurd & Ubbe (Vikings)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first time writing a fanfic over here. I really wanted something like this to exist, and it gives me the hype :D! I'm so happy about this! Although~ I only do this for fun xdd. Hope you enjoy!

CHAPTER 1:

Bjorn had enough of this shit. He couldn't stand another second with all this racquet in this house. He knew he was responsible for his brothers, but enough was enough. Five weeks have passed since summer has started, and he was so done.

"Stop being such a baby and act like a man already!"

Hvitserk was, as always, with a smirk on his stupid face, mocking everyone who was around him. Ubbe couldn't stand it any longer, it was driving him mad!

"You shut your stupid loudmouth, Ubbe!"

"Hvitserk you idiotic fool, you threw my only chance to get a fucking job!" Ubbe's voice was getting louder, no longer looking or sounding soft, as Ivar would say.

"And you lost all of my money! You owe me!" Hvitserk was still talking of that money he always used for his pleasure.

"What about Sigurd and Ivar?! They owe you more than I do! Also, they were the ones that made your girlfriend dump you!"

"I haven't done such a thing! You take that back, Ubbe! You know I haven't done anything!"

"Oh, please, Sigurd you always do something none of us expect you to do!" Ivar mocked him, again, with venom in his tongue, like a snake ready to bite its prey.

"Ivar, I swear, if you ever try to accuse me again I will break your nose!"

"I know for a fact that Sigurd didn't do anything of such!"

"Now you too, Hvitserk? You, in fact, threw all of my figures I made out of wood to the trash!" Ivar really didn't like the fact that he threw them. He worked hard on them.

"They were in the way! You have too many things!"

"Well, then it's settled! All of you owe me!"

"Ivar, don't even think about it! All of you fucked up all of my chances to get a job!" Ubbe was still fuming, his head was about to explode any second now. But not as much as Bjorn's.

"Well, you shouldn't have stopped at your stupid maniac of a girlfriend!" All he thought with this that his girlfriend, in fact, was a maniac. But that wasn't the problem!

"And you shouldn't keep playing the horrible music you make, Sigurd!"

"At least I don't waste my money on going to bars and paying drinks at a party for bitches! Hvitserk is always doing that!"

"Stop lying through your teeth, I only use the money for food!"

"Yes, and then you don't share, wasting even more money when we almost got an opportunity!" Ubbe was really out of patience. Usually, he would try to calm down, but he had enough.

Bjorn put his hand on his forehead, his head was still aching from when the fight started literally thirty minutes ago.

"And what about Ivar? He keeps going somewhere to buy wood! Are you kidding Ubbe?!"

"At least I pay for something cheaper than drinks and drugs!"

"And what about Sigurd, huh? He's been using drugs with me and we didn't bother you!"

"That is the problem! You wasted money on drugs! I am the only one trying to get a job to survive with you fools!"

"ENOUGH!"

Finally, the four brothers who were arguing shut their mouths. Bjorn's voice roared through the whole house, and for a moment he sounded exactly like Ragnar would when he was really fed up. He knew his brothers were in a really difficult situation. They couldn't live together without fighting and screaming at each other.

Ever since Aslaug died exactly five weeks ago, murdered by a man who robbed the house, everything went to shit. They still haven't recovered from their loss, and they still needed more money to pay the bills. So, Bjorn, after his recent divorce with Torvi, was getting calls from Floki and Helga. They were the ones that told him what happened. After all, he was their big brother. He was their legal guardian. As for their uncle, Rollo, he didn't say much.

He just attended their mother's funeral. It didn't surprise him that he didn't even know what to say for those poor fools. So now, he was responsible for them. Trying to bring them together. It was his father's last wish, in a way. Ragnar knew that after his death they were all going to begin separating.

He remembered something curious that happened a day after his death. They all had a dream, where he said: "How the little piggies will grunt when they hear the old boar suffered". They knew something happened to Ragnar before his death, but they didn't know in detail. All they knew was that he was pressured, and stressed.

Bjorn was beginning to think that he was feeling the same way Ragnar did. But he was wrong.  
"I want every last one of you to sit down quietly," the oldest brother said, his voice furious, his expression served fear and weariness to the other brothers. They knew when to shut up. Especially when Bjorn was out of patience. "And if I hear one more word out anyone's mouth again, I swear none of you will get out of this house until you decide to listen!"

Ubbe was the first one to sit down, being the good and obedient brother that he was. Even if he was 21, he still obeyed his big brother. Even though he had to take care of his little brothers.

Hvitserk, being 19, almost didn't sit down. But he did, ashamed that his big brother Bjorn had to treat them like children.

Sigurd didn't hesitate to sit down. He was 17, but he will turn 18 soon enough. He was expected to behave as an adult, like his older brothers.

On the other hand, Ivar, who has turned 17 recently, and wasn't a troublemaker 100%, but a spoiled child with a genius mind like his father, huffed and crossed his arms, almost refusing to sit down, glaring at his older brothers.

"Now," Bjorn sat down on the chair where his father would sit, with a big, rectangular table for four sons, and two parents. "I know that all of you have a lot of problems. And I know that it's been hard on all of us." He looked at his brothers, one by one. He really wasn't the type of person that tried to help or give speeches, but today it was necessary, for the sake of his father's wish.

"But all of you have to grow up and stop behaving like children. Especially you Ivar," his baby brother was about to say something, but when he opened his mouth, Bjorn shut him up in time. It was his turn to speak. "Don't you dare say a word, Ivar, I'm serious, I will lock you in your room if you keep acting like a spoiled child,". So Ivar shut his mouth. He hated not being able to go outside. Ever since he was a baby, his mother wouldn't let him go anywhere.

Bjorn looked at his baby brother, ignoring the adorable puppy face he was making, unconsciously, as a matter of fact. No one could resist his cuteness. Except for Bjorn. Not even his father could resist. "You will stop mocking your brothers and start acting like you're seventeen, not like a ten-year-old boy. You are going to tell us all everything you do from now on. The last time you went out of the house you worried all of us, I was about to call the police, Ivar. What if something happened to you? Hm? You are going to tell us where you have been every day, and what you have done, and with who. Are we clear?"

Ivar didn't say anything, looking away from Bjorn. "Look at me, Ivar," Bjorn ordered. His voice this time was even more serious. Of course, he couldn't disobey his brother right now. He looked at him, he was getting bored, but at the same time, he was ashamed. "Are. We. Clear?" He said slowly. Ivar nodded. "I said, are we CLEAR?", his voice sounded more like a bear's roar for a moment.

"Yes!" He said quickly. He already wanted this to be over, so he went to stand up, when Bjorn slammed his hand on the table, startling his brothers. "Don't you dare move from that chair, Ivar." His big brother's voice was quiet. Menacing, even. It gave all of them the chills. He was really like Ragnar when he was angry. He immediately sat down, looking at the table quietly.

Bjorn then looked at Sigurd, who was looking nervous. He didn't really care. He had a headache because of these idiots. "As for you, Sigurd, you will do the same as Ivar. You will be telling us where you are going, when, and with who. You will start to learn how to drive this summer when you turn eighteen. And if I catch you with drugs again, I swear I will take away your opportunity to go with your friends to sing or play instruments for a whole year. Are we clear?" Sigurd, learning from what happened with Ivar, looked at Bjorn, and said yes quietly.

When Bjorn looked at Hvitserk, the younger brother almost wanted to shrink from the glare he was given. "Hvitserk, I am really disappointed in you. You are 19, man. You are supposed to act like an adult, so man up. If I hear once again that you spent money on prostitutes, or drugs, Hvitserk, I swear you are going to rehabilitation, even if you are not addicted, and you will have to get the money to pay for it. So stop with the bullshit and start working on something to gain money!"

Bjorn looked at Sigurd again. "And I say the same to you! I catch you one more time with drugs, I will put you two in rehab!" They both gulped. They were scared shitless. Too ashamed to look at each of their brothers. Even Ivar wasn't brave enough to look up. He himself has done things no one knew he did. He wasn't risking his freedom anytime soon.  
Bjorn, with his stern eyes, like a bear roaring to gain everyone's attention and to make everyone behave, finally looked at Ubbe, who was, right now, a wolf who didn't dare attack the bigger animal, knowing he will fail to win an argument with Bjorn.

Ubbe was a bit relieved, now that his big brother finally, finally was going to finish giving orders to them and making them all feel ashamed of themselves. Although, he understood why he needed to do it. He knew that he didn't want them all to hate each other. They were brothers after all. So he looked at Bjorn with an understanding look. But this didn't make him calm down, no. They would have to wait to see him talk, walk, and look like he normally does.

"Ubbe, I know you have been trying to get a job, and I know that everyone needs money. You've been the most responsible brother while I wasn't here, and I know that you couldn't take care of them while you were on the job," he said quietly, but it was enough to let the others know. They didn't get angry, nor sad, nor jealous. In fact, they understood. It was not the time to get angry and shout and yell at each other.

"But when you were with Margrethe, you didn't even call your brothers to know if they were okay. I suggest you, like everyone in this family, that you dump her. You are being blind, brother. Do you know what father said to me once? He said that if we wanted to lead, we had to do it with the head. Not with the heart." Ubbe nodded, looking up at him. "I know you have been grabbing your brother's money, too. The money isn't for Margrethe, you fool, she is using you to get the money! Now, if I catch you grabbing money without me knowing it, or gambling," Ubbe looked at him, surprised that he knew what he did many times to not waste more money. "Yes, Ubbe, I have seen your gambling. I catch you doing that again, I really won't let you buy that car you really want to get. You will stick to the ones we have."

They all sat there, silent, until the oldest brother, still having a headache, told them that they could get up. The youngest of them went to their bedrooms, and the others went outside, doing who knows what.  
It was 4 p.m. and he was tired. Now he knew how his father felt. He knew he loved them, of course, but there was something else their father was hiding. He was absolutely determined to know what happened to him to make him sick and stressed. His mother Lagertha, didn't know either. They separated when Aslaug moved into their lives. Lagertha was devastated, she loved Ragnar with all her heart. It wasn't fair. And his father's job wasn't helping him either. His boss was an asshole, and his best friend was murdered. It was strange. Everyone who was friends with the Lothbrok family ended up dead. But not Floki, Helga, or Torvi, or Margareth. Only Athelstan, his father's best friend, and Aslaug. They still haven't found Athelstan's murderer, but they did catch the robber who killed his stepmother.

He was so, so tired. All he wanted was a happy ending for his family. But it was like they were cursed or something. Always with a lot of shit to put through. He decided to call his ex-wife, Torvi, to ask her how was she doing, and his little monsters.

Maybe he could relax a little, to forget what happened today. He will need strength for tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally edited this chapter. Thank you for your support!


	2. Just One Summer Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bjorn is trying to be calm. It doesn't work.  
> He's so exhausted. What did he do to deserve this?  
> Ivar just wants to be relaxed, is that too difficult? Maybe it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOOOOHHH THE HYPE

The youngest of the Lothbrok brothers was too difficult to control. He was always out of the house, and everyone knew full well why he wanted to stay outside as much as possible. But it still made Bjorn nervous. The streets of Kattegat were not as safe as they were before when he was a kid. It was plagued with robbers, kidnappers, perverts, drug dealers, addicts, drunks! It changed so much since his parents divorced. Everything (almost) went to shit. He almost wanted his family to move to another place. That wasn't possible. This house was the only thing that they all had in common, besides their father. After all, his brothers really didn't want to leave after all that's happened lately. So they had to stay there. But that...that wasn't the case, no...right at that moment, the only thing that mattered was his family. How were they doing? What were they doing? Where? Were they safe? Especially Ivar. 

Ivar said he would go for a walk. Alone. Bjorn really didn't want to think about it. What about his friends? Did he have friends? He doubted it. He was always picking fights with other people in his school, according to Ubbe. The oldest of the brothers was in his job, preparing everything in the ship for the captain who would take the passengers somewhere around Europe. His job was only about making sure everything was in order, like checking the motor, the food, how many assistants for the captain will there be, making sure the lifeboats are safe to use, etc. He checked his phone to see if Ivar texted him or called him. Nope. Not one single message. He sent one to his brother, but it didn't reach him. Maybe Ivar didn't have a signal, or his phone was dead. He called him. He didn't answer, so his phone wasn't dead yet, and if he had a dead phone, it would directly give him the _'The number you called is not in service, please try to call again later."_. He thought he should ask his brothers is Ivar had talked to them. In thirty minutes Bjorn would arrive home. He said goodbye to his coworkers and went to his car, sat down, and texted his brother Sigurd.

> **Siggs The Snake: Online.**
> 
> **Bjorn Ironside:** _Hey Sigg 12:18 p.m._
> 
> _How are you?_
> 
> **Siggs The Snake:** _Hey Bjorn 12:19 p.m._
> 
> _I'm ok._ _What's up???_
> 
> **Bjorn Ironside:** _Good 12:19 p.m._
> 
> _Where are you?_
> 
> **Siggs The Snake:** _I'm at home._
> 
> _I'm trying to play the ukelele. 12:19 p.m._
> 
> _Is everything ok? I can tell you're getting serious, this is not like you. 12:20 p.m._
> 
> **Bjorn Ironside:** _Has Ivar texted you? Has he called you or something?_
> 
> _Is he home? 12:20 p.m._
> 
> **Siggs The Snake:** _No, he hasn't, no he's not home. 12:21 p.m._
> 
> _Why?_
> 
> **Bjorn Ironside:** _Make sure to call him._
> 
> _Tell him that he should be arriving home by now 12:21 p.m._
> 
> **Siggs The Snake:** _Sure, no problem 12:22 p.m._

Shit. If this kid doesn't come home soon, Bjorn won't hesitate to lock him up. _'Okay, too exaggerated...don't do that. I'll just make him listen to me again.'_ , the thought. He wasn't like Aslaug. He remembered that if Ivar even coughed in front of her, she would take him immediately to the doctors. Bjorn wasn't like Aslaug at all, and he refused to be like her. They weren't related by blood anyway, thank goodness! He remembered something else, too. Ivar had asthma since he was very little, and he had this condition, in which his bones weren't as strong as they had to be. That woman was very careful with him, too protective, always coddling him, and since he was born prematurely, extremely fragile, with asthma, and with pain all over him, she wouldn't let him go outside and play with his brothers, or friends. Bjorn knew it was hard on Ivar, obviously he didn't want to stay home all day. He hated it when Ivar cried as a baby, knowing this poor kid was always in pain.

Sometimes, he understood Aslaug, but only with the protectiveness. That's the only good thing that he saw about her. What he didn't like at all was that she was cheating on Ragnar, ignoring his children, except for Ivar, and drinking every single day. He saw her getting drunk many times when his brothers were there, witnessing everything.

Sometimes she would start smoking, holding little Ivar in her arms. The smoke would make the baby cough, and she would tell him to stop crying. He's seen her leaving Ivar in his crib, crying and wailing in pain once, twice, three times maybe. She would scream at all of them when she was drunk. But when she was with Ragnar, all of that shit would disappear. She always put an act, being the sweet and gorgeous woman that she supposedly was. Sometimes, he hated that woman. 

Bjorn sighed and started the car, but didn't drive. He had enough of these thoughts. He had to stop. It was making him anxious. He called Sigurd. No response. He texted him. Nothing. He called Ubbe, connecting his phone with his car. He needed to know if Ivar was safe. After all, he was his legal guardian. He had to take care of him and protect him. So he waited for Ubbe to pick up his phone and talk to him. He didn't pick up. It was strange, he would always pick up. He tried calling Hvitserk, but maybe his phone was dead. He couldn't even press _C_ _all._ Shit.

He called Ubbe again. He waited. 

Ubbe didn't pick up.

He called again. No answer.

He texted him. Nothing.

He called, _again._ Still nothing.

Bjorn waited 15 minutes to see if he would pick up, or call back. He was about to begin driving, taking deep breaths to not curse and scream. He knew something was up, he could feel it. Then something came to him. Margrethe. That bitch was manipulating his brother again, wasn't she? He could expect anything happening between the two. Maybe they were fucking, or watching Netflix, or just taking a fucking nap, he didn't know but he was feeling, again, _frustrated._ His brothers weren't cooperating with anything! Were they really thinking that he would just take care of them all and they would just lay down and sleep while he works his ass off? What the fuck was-...oh. Ubbe was calling. Thank goodness, Ubbe was finally calling back! He immediately picked up. 

"Ubbe, you okay? What happened? I called you a few times now." His brother hesitated for a moment. He was unusually quiet. He took too much time to respond. "Ubbe?" Then he heard his brother sniff. "Ubbe, what happened? Are you okay? Where are you?", his voice was a mix of worried and stoic. A bit demanding. He heard Ubbe sniff and breathe in shakily. No doubt he was crying. Yep. It was that bitch. 

_"I'm-I'm okay, it's_ _just...I-..._ ". Bjorn stayed silent. He waited for his brother to speak and he stopped the engine of his car. He told himself to let his brother take his time. _"She was was with one of my friends...having-they were-ugh! When...I arrived at her place and...and I confronted her about it, she said that I didn't have to worry, and she wanted to fuck and-"_ Ubbe let out a shaky sigh. 

What? What the fuck? What is...? This was not going well at all. He knew this would happen. That bitch was- 

_"I didn't want to, and she insisted, I said no...m-my friend- no, that bastard left us and she grabbed her phone and started taking a video..."_ His voice was shaky, and Bjorn didn't like it at all.

He was getting pissed off, whispering something about what a crazy bitch that girl was. Oh, how he hated that...woman... _if_ she was born to be called even a _woman_ , or she had enough _dignity_ to be called that, or a girlfriend-no, scratch that, she was _nothing._ She deserved to be treated like the pile of shit that she was. Bjorn's head was full of rage, he was getting tempted not to buy a rifle and go to her place and shoot her. _"I was going to leave, but this bastard locked the door and this-she- she was trying to have sex with me and I refused a-and I pushed her when she scratched my face..."._

Of course, what else would he be expecting from a maniac like Margrethe? He hoped that maybe destiny, or karma, or the universe, or whatever would make her pay. Make her suffer a little... _"I-I didn't push her hard, she just took a few steps back...she said that I didn't care about her, after all I did for her, and she said that I was replacing her with you guys, and she started to scream at me and push me, and- for fuck's sake, I'm a guy, I can't hit her! And she was..."._ And she was taking a video of him, saying those things about him. He hoped she drowned in the bathtub, or in the ocean, or in the pool someday. Or she could just jump off a cliff. Or a murderer would just-

_"She took a lighter out of her pocket and- and she started to burn our pictures...she-she even tried to burn my arm with it and- she had a knife! I had to break the door hinges to get out, and she screamed for help saying that I was raping her! She threw, or-or dropped it by accident through the window just where I was...I have it."_

Holy shit. That slut was going to pay. First, saying his family wasn't worth the while, then saying that he should give her all his attention, grabbing his money, cheating on him, insulting him, going all psycho on his brother, hurting him, and even accusing him of rape? _'Bitch, I bet you don't even know what phone number you have to call to report to the cops. Not that you have the guts to do it, you stupid maniac'._

He really wanted her to rot somewhere, he would definitely call someone to take her away from Kattegat. No, not Kattegat, the whole planet would be a better place without her in it. He remembered what Hvitserk told him about Margareth. She would insult his brothers and take possessions that cost a fortune. She would insult their father, calling him old, and bonkers or crazy, saying that he was probably rotting in his coffin. That there was no use mentioning him. That's when they said that they cremated his body. Somehow, she found the way to shut her filthy mouth. 

She wasn't allowed to go in the house after that, or his brothers would kill her. He wished he could give a taste of her own medicine. Someday, he will make her pay. And she will leave their lives forever if it's the last thing he will ever do. Bjorn sighed. "Ubbe, are you home?" Ubbe sniffed quietly. _"Yes."_ Bjorn felt bad for his brother. But at least he left that bitch. Then he remembered: 

Ivar. 

Bjorn's heart began to race, it was already 12:36 p.m. and he wasn't home yet! They were all supposed to have lunch at 1:30 p.m. and Ivar was supposed to arrive home at 12:00 o'clock! "Okay, Ubbe, I need you to calm down now, alright? If you have the phone and the video's there, just send it to yourself and then delete it from her phone, bring it back to her, just leave it there on her doorstep, go home, and report what happened with that psychopath. We don't want her to begin reporting her missing phone now". 

_"Okay..."_ , he said quietly.

"Now, Ubbe, I called you because I wanted to know if Ivar texted you, or called you, anything really. Is he home?"

_"No, he didn't text me or anything, he just uploaded a pic of himself in the woods on Instagram recently."_

"When, exactly?" He started to drive, hoping he could come home avoiding the traffic. Which he thought that it wasn't going to happen. At this hour it was infuriating. _"Um...at 11:35"._ It was 12:38. Ivar was supposed to be home. He asked Ubbe if Sigurd was home. He wasn't. At this hour he should be home, too. What the fuck was happening with these two? _"Sigurd went to buy some food, he said that we didn't have anything healthy, so he went out. Don't worry."_ He wanted to drive faster, but as his luck wasn't being the best these days, the cops were driving behind him. He wished he had the streets for himself sometimes. Fucking shit. 

"And what about Hvitserk? He didn't pick up my calls either.", he asked. If this idiot was using drugs again-

_"He just arrived home. He said that he was helping his friend move to another apartment, and his phone fell out. So it's broken. Again."_

Again? Two phones. Two phones that he had broken! What in Odin's beard was happening?! And what about Ivar?! Why can't these idiots be together for **_one day?_** It would be a lot easier to take care of them if they stayed home, together! **Safe!**

"Does Hvitserk know anything about Ivar? Has Ivar called any of you? It's 12:40 Ubbe, he had to be home at 12:00!", Bjorn felt like he was having a heart attack, and at the same time, his head began to hurt a lot, he could feel his blood flowing around his skull. What if something happened? What if he got lost? What if someone tried to rob him? No, no! Nothing like that would happen! Not if he could stop it. 

_"Look, Bjorn, I will go look for him with Hvitserk-"_

"No, I'm near the house, just wait for me to arrive and I'll say what we have to do, alright?" His own voice sounded nervous, he had to keep his shit together. If this kid isn't home by fifteen minutes, he was going to drag him home, lock him up in his room, and he won't be able to set foot outside, not before turning 18. _'No, make it 20'._ He hanged up and sighed, irritated, his heart beating faster, his hands grabbing the wheel so tight his knuckles were white.

_'Ivar, where the fuck are you?'_

* * *

It was 11:25 a.m, finally, Ivar could just walk alone. This was something that calmed him, somehow. Finally. He was _outside._ He was beginning to think that he was actually a damsel in distress, who lived in a tower and had very long hair-don't judge him, his hair was longer and he sometimes hated it- and then there would be some kind of thief who would rescue him or...whatever. He couldn't remember the name of the princess though. Anyway, his big brother, Bjorn, wouldn't let him go outside for at least two days later since he said all those things to his brothers and him. He was too controlling, and, who the fuck cared if he went to buy some wood to carve it? Who on the whole planet would have a problem with that? Maybe a lunatic like Margareth, but she was out of...her judgment. He couldn't blame Bjorn...he sighed as he went down a small slope that led to a meadow surrounded by pine trees. It was so quiet. Just like he wanted it to be. 

He sat on his favorite rock, where he carved his name on it when he was a kid. That day, he ran away from Aslaug when she was drinking. He was about 10 years old. He only wanted to sit here and enjoy the silence, where the sun would shine and give him at least a bit of warmth. It sounded a bit cliché, but it was the truth. He always had to wait for the sun to shine in his room, being inside and all. He sighed, content that he was finally alone, and could enjoy the **_SILENCE._** _FINALLY._ He grabbed his phone, took a selfie, then he took the little piece of wood he bought a few days ago and started carving. He decided he wanted to carve the shape of a bear, having an image in his head of a totem he saw the other day before Bjorn arrived at Kattegat. Maybe he could give this to Bjorn as a gift. He knew he wasn't being himself lately. He was always sharp, always cutting off anyone's opinion about something, or just telling the cold truth about a lot of shit. He was becoming... _soft._ Like Ubbe. Now, he couldn't have that, no, it wasn't him. It wasn't Ivar The Heartless, as his brothers would call him. Though, he _did_ have a heart. A small one. But he did have a big brain. 

All he could say about his...new personality, is that he was...sad. Well, he was always sad, and angry, or frustrated, or even jealous, destructive. Just plain negative. But he was also the joker, the one who liked telling dark jokes, laughing at someone's misery, the one that always won the prank wars against his brothers. Now, he was just devastated. His mother was dead. Murdered in cold blood. It wasn't fair. He wanted revenge. But the murderer was already caught. All he knew was his name. Harbard. It was because of Sigurd that they all knew their mother was cheating on Ragnar with him. And one day, exactly five months after his father died, Harbard came home and slaughtered the woman that took care of him all his life. Sigurd was the one who saw it all. Ivar was on an excursion with his school, and there was traffic everywhere, so the day became slower and slower. And by the time he arrived home, all he saw was the police around the house. He started screaming out of pure rage. And his whole world slowed down so much, he thought it stopped for hours when it was only seconds after he saw his mother on that bed, the paramedics took her to the ambulance, and they wouldn't let him go with her. He broke down. He wasn't the type to be a depressed crybaby. He wasn't weak. 

He let out a frustrated sigh. He hated remembering that. He hated remembering Harbard. Good riddance. Ivar decided to stop thinking about that and started to mumble a song that Ubbe would sing to him to make him sleep when he was little, or when his mother was drinking. As he felt the sunshine on his face and felt the warmth, he mumbled, trying to pull a smile. A friend of his (he wasn't a friend anymore) would tell him that when everything felt wrong, he would put up a smile. Forgetting all the shit. So he smiled. 

"My mother told me, someday I would buy,

galleys with good oars, sail to distant shores."

He kept smiling softly, making the shape of the bear with the wood and the small knife. And for a second, he smiled with fury. Not anger. Fury. He always took his emotions to an extreme level, but he was really trying to stop that. His brothers knew that, and they thought that he needed to go to the psychologist to know if Ivar was okay mentally. He always took everything to an extreme point. While others just got angry, he would feel rage, get furious. While others got happy, he would thrive in excitement. While others got sad, he would be depressed. So he sang quietly to stop smiling with fury.

"Stand up high in the prow,

noble barque I steer,

steady close to the haven,

hew many foe-men,

hew many foe-men..." 

He finished his work in a couple of minutes, content about how the bear looked. Maybe he should spray it with that silver color Sigurd bought for the prank wars. So it would stand out with his name. Bjorn, meaning bear, and the nickname Ironside. That would be a cool gift for him. Maybe it would soften him a little. He was being too harsh with everyone. Again, he wasn't the type to do these things, BUT, Bjorn's birthday would be next week, on Friday. So he could just chill and stop being the grumpy old Bjorn they all knew. He looked at his phone. It was 11:43, he was supposed to arrive home at 12:00. He would be a few minutes late. That wouldn't hurt anybody. But he didn't want to make Bjorn angry again. He would be risking his freedom. 

What a pain in the ass. 

He sighed and got up from the rock, when he heard a tree branch break near him, at his right. The way home was just in front of him, he just had to run _up_ to get to the street, and from the street, go right and run to the neighborhood even if it took him like 15 or 20 minutes to get there from where he was. Just behind him, there was the big meadow surrounded by pine trees. It kind of reminded him of Bambi. What a horrible movie. And what a horrible time it was to remember that. So inconvenient. No one knew about this place except for his family, and that worried him a little. He turned left and right, only seeing trees. He tried looking further at his right, where he heard the sound. _'This is the part when the stupid character would say, " Hello? Is someone there?". This is so stupid. I should go home now.'_, he thought. Really, who would do that?

Definitely a fool. And Ivar was no fool. 

He stopped making jokes about this situation when he heard a rustling near a bush. He was about to turn around and flee (not because this was dangerous, but because he was running late) when a black _thing_ came running at him at full speed and jumped.

And guess where it landed: it _clawed_ at his _shoulders, and stayed there the fucking bastard._ The black cat was absolutely big, not kidding, it was the size of his back, and it hissed and clawed it's nails deeper into his skin. "Fuck! Shit! Get off of me!". Look, he didn't mind cats, they're adorable demons, but shit, that hurt. When he was about to move to get the cat off of his shoulders, he heard a dog barking. "Shit.", he cursed as the dog ran, broke down the brushes, stood right in front of him, and started barking again, wagging its tail with enthusiasm. "Oh, great, now are you going to join the party too?"

The cat clawed more at his shoulder and brought it's other paw to his neck. And of course, its claws dug into his skin, and of course it scratched him. And _he couldn't fucking move because a German Shepherd was jumping, barking, trotting all around him, and he was risking getting his face all scratched up._ How convenient, wow. Good morning Ivar, what will you do today? Go outside to relax and have a moment to yourself and then be the punctual, good example of being a little brother, and making the oldest brother proud of you? Well, I think not, my friend, let's cheer you up with a giant cat and a giant, adorable, stupid dog that will not let you move because it will keep barking and growling, making you think it will hurt you because _**IT'S A BIG-ASS DOG.**_ Surprise! 

Now, for a moment, he thought about giving a name for this cat because he was going to be a long time with these two, he presumed, and he will name him... Lucifer, because, why not? And what about the dog? Hm... Oh, he- 

"Maximus!" Okay, someone with a very, very gruff voice called the dog's name, because it immediately looked behind it and stopped barking. The cat growled and clawed _more_. "Ow! Shit!", stupid cat! Then he heard a rustling and that voice again. Many times. _'Please get this thing away from me, whoever you are, I don't care if you're a bandit, or a drug dealer, or a killer, or whatever just get this beast as far away as possible- oh, shit, he's hot'._ Maximus, the dog, after three seconds of watching the _most handsome_ man he'd ever seen in Kattegat, turned around, ignored the stranger, and started. Barking. Again. Which made the cat furious. And Ivar hissed.

The man cringed at the sight. Well, if it wasn't a great "Hello" to you, he didn't know what was. He was tall, he had a beard that made his face look like a model, he had a well-toned body under the sporty outfit he was wearing. His hair was short, brown, and his blue eyes were a mix of hot, burning fire, with cold sparkling wonder. He was sweating. He wasn't from around here. Ivar had never seen him in Kattegat. "Are you okay?" 

"Oh, I'm feeling- fantastic! I love having a giant cat clawing at my shoulders and my neck and- fuck! Okay, it's clawing at my cheek now, get it off, get it off!" The dog was jumping up and down, it stood on it's behind legs and barked again, again, and again, while the stranger came closer to Ivar slowly, trying not to scare the cat and make it hurt the teen more "Don't worry, I will grab the cat and put him on the ground".

"I would appreciate that a lot, um, sir..."

Now, why on Earth was he remembering Snow White?. This could be the "Snow White Gone Wrong Version". 

"Don't call me that," he said flatly. The cat clawed at his scalp, fuck, that hurt. 

"Damnit!"

"Is this demon-cat yours?" Really? This man thought that this furious, rabid animal was his? Well...it did look like him a bit, though, only for its personality. 

"What? Are you joking? This giant monster belongs everywhere but with me, and-"

It was like a situation where the kidnapper had a hostage, so, this man then got close enough to let Ivar smell him. Ew, the sweating- the smell- fuck, oh, ew!. Ivar cringed as the man grabbed the cat, pulled it up, and it _finally_ let go of Ivar, hugging it to his chest. 

_'Yup. This man does_ not _fear death.'_ , he thought. He smiled and hissed as he felt blood dripping down his cheek and his shoulders to his back. Ugh. The man let go of the cat and it sprinted at full speed to the meadow, quickly hiding. Maximus, amazingly, stayed put, sitting next to his master. He wagged his tail happily. The stranger attached a leash to its red collar and sighed, looking at Ivar with pity.

Oh, no.

This is such a bad first impression to meet a handsome man. _'Great. Thanks, bad luck, I love you too.'._

"I am so sorry about what happened, really, I was just walking my dog and that cat appeared out of nowhere. Maximus ran after it, and I didn't attach the leash on his collar, really I am deeply sorry. Are you alright?" 

"No, no, it's okay, really, your dog didn't do anything- well, he didn't let me leave, but at least someone took that beast away, so thank you. The scratches are uncomfortable, but I'll live, I'm fine." Ivar laughed a little. This was fucking hilarious! The man chuckled and nodded. 

"My name is Heahmund, and as you know now, my friend here is Maximus." Ivar smiled and nodded. He suddenly felt uneasy and a bit embarrassed. Should he be giving his name to him? Though, the man _did_ give off his name to him. _'Giving your name to a stranger? Well, he told you his name, so now we aren't strangers. Now I feel like a seven-year-old meeting a stranger. Ew, no! Why did I think_ _that?'_ , he thought. It was like re-watching IT again, where Pennywise the dancing clown would eat Georgie's arm and then pull him down the drain. This was different, though. He was meeting an overly handsome man with a giant dog in the woods, alone, giving information to him. Normally, situations like these don't end up being good...

Fuck it. 

"My name is Ivar.", he said as he went to shake Heahmund's hand. The older man nodded, smiled, picked up Ivar's leather backpack, and shook his hand. Ivar swore he felt the hand stay with his for at least 2 seconds long. Okay, maybe he was exaggerating, but it felt like it!. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ivar. I just moved here to Kattegat, and I wanted to get to know the place, so I took my furry friend here and...yeah". Wow, okay, he was 100% British. If only he knew him better to make jokes about it... The dog barked. It reminded him of Hvitserk for a moment. Definitely a troublemaker. This makes Ivar huff a laugh, smiling widely, while Heahmund tried to hide his expression of feeling butterflies in his stomach. 

_'Okay, this kid is adorable and funny. I already like him. Keep. Calm.'_ Heahmund's mind was sounding the alarms as he looked and smiled at Ivar, not knowing what exactly he was thinking about, and his laugh made him want to laugh. _'Don't laugh, Heahmund, you are not weak, don't succumb to this overly cute and adorable kid...Jesus Christ, what am I thinking? I'm sounding like a pedophile, what the Hell?'._ In Heahmund's mind, this was not okay. Nope. _'I mean, look at him! he's what? 15, 16, 17 years old? I mean, I could be his father, for God's sake!'._

"Does this normally happen with your dog?" Ivar couldn't believe he was talking to a stranger. A man he _didn't_ know. In Kattegat. Heahmund laughed and nodded, saying, "Yeah, only when an animal gets in the way, or a man that would look suspicious to him, right, my friend?", Maximus barked. Okay, now it talked to its owner. Great. This was the weirdest day of his life. "Well, I am sure you can train him more to not do that again," he laughed, "I wouldn't want another cat clawing at my shoulders and my scalp.", he said putting on his backpack quickly. He looked nervous. "I am sure of that, Ivar. What hour is it?" Ivar looked at his phone. 

It was 12:40 a.m.

He was- he was supposed to arrive home! 

Shit! All of his brothers called him and he didn't even notice or called back!

Shit, shit, shit, Bjorn was going to kill him, he won't let him see daylight in who knows how much time! He fucked it all up. 

"Shit! I have to go! I'm way past my curfew, thank you for helping me, bye!" Ivar ran up the slope as fast as he could as he heard Maximus barking again with enthusiasm. Although he wasn't careful enough, because he stepped on a rock, it wasn't stable enough to hold his weight so he fell down, and he felt his face hit the dirt as well as his knee colliding with another rock, and slipping down the slope, huffing and panting. He had to admit, he kind of had a heart attack when he felt the rock slip down. He grabbed a rock that _didn't_ slip or fall, so he used it to try to get up, and Heahmund went running after him, not before making a knot around a skinny tree with the leash that kept the dog from running away. 

The man ran uphill and placed himself in front of Ivar, grabbing his forearms and pulling him up. Ivar almost fell forward, so he was stopped by Heahmund's broad chest, his face against his pectorals, and he had to balance himself, placing his hands accidentally on his abs. _'Oh, he has ABS...Wait...What?! What the-',_ and to his surprise, he almost slipped again, but the man had to grab him by the waist and _his face was too close._..! Ivar's face was burning. Maybe the weather was unusually hot. He can't be blushing. No, no, no, no, no, nonononono-

"Are you okay?" 

His heart was beating so fast he thought it would explode out of his chest, his face was burning hot, and _this man still had his face so close to his._ This has never happened to him before, this was so weird, he wasn't the type to be embarrassed! It's not fair! He was looking like a weak kid in front of a man that looked like one of the Norse Gods. Fuck!

_'I think I'm going to faint. This is it, this is the part when I hit the ground, and this man kidnaps me.'_

"I'm-uh, I'm okay, um...than-thank you, uh...again." This was so embarrassing. _Fuck, he was looking at his eyes, and he chuckled. Oh, by Thor's hammer, why?._ "Your welcome," he said, smiling and out of breath. When Ivar felt his hands loosening their grip, and slowly going lower and lower, he quickly started going up the slope again, this time being more careful and quicker, saying "I gotta go, thanks again, bye!". 

Heahmund, when he was finally alone with his dog, went down again. He untied the leash from the skinny tree and sat down on the rock, spotting two things. The name carved on the rock, and what looked like a bear totem. He picked it up and saw that there was something carved at the bottom of the figure. **'From Ivar to Bjorn'**. He looked up where the boy left. 

"Ivar..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took too long! Finally! I'm done! :D Yay! There will be more chapters. Thank you so much! I'M HYPED AGAIN!


	3. A Not Very Normal Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ivar's day went from "oh this is weird but I liked it" to "nope, you're not going to have a good day, my friend".   
> Bjorn is beyond stressed and furious, and Hvitserk doesn't want to be alone with Bjorn or Ivar ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so very sorry. I couldn't write any more chapters because I had a lot of tests, and this week and the next I will definitely be very stressed with the exams and the homework...again, I am so sorry for making you all wait :( this makes me sad. I tried to upload this chapter last week, but it got erased for some reason. I'm so sorry. :(.

Chapter 3:   
  
As Ivar ran through the streets of Kattegat, he was stopped by the familiar honking of Bjorn's car. _'Oh, no...'_. He cringed and sighed as he turned around and saw Bjorn and Hvitserk getting out of the car. Ivar began to fiddle with his braids, getting more nervous as Bjorn walked right at him so quickly, it scared him even. He was so fucked. "Bjorn—"   
"Shut up.", he said, his voice was so cold, it made Ivar shiver and his brother grabbed him by his forearm. Hard. What was wrong with him?! Why was he being so weak?! Maybe Bjorn could understand him if he explained.  
  
"Bjorn, I–"   
  
"I said shut up, Ivar." Bjorn looked at him in the eyes, more serious than he had ever seen him before. He shut up just for a short moment, but that didn't stop him from struggling against the hard grip of his brother. It hurt. "Bjorn, listen, I—" his big brother didn't let him go, instead, he yanked him, pulling him to the car. He didn't say anything. Ivar understood that he didn't want to talk at that moment or hear some shit, but he had to explain himself! He wasn't about to get locked up in his room for who knows how long! No way! Hvitserk opened the back door of the car, sighing as Bjorn looked at Ivar in his eyes, absolutely furious. He didn't say anything, and that scared Ivar and Hvitserk up to no end. He wasn't actually Bjorn at that moment. It reminded them of their uncle Rollo, and _he_ scared all of them after the last fight their father and their uncle had. Ivar tried again: "Bjorn, it is not what you think, I just got distracted, I'm sorry, alright? It won't happen again."   
  
Bjorn clenched his jaw, his anger serving a plate of fear right to Ivar's chest. He stayed quiet for like a minute, and it was so uncomfortable for Hvitserk and Ivar, even more, when Bjorn tightened his grip on his forearm. And he said quietly, so quietly that it sounded like he was screaming in his head.   
  
_"What did you not understand about the words 'shut up'?"_   
  
So he shut up. He had to if he didn't want to fight with Bjorn. They all knew who would win. The big furious bear would always win against a small animal. Ivar sat on the back seat of the car, Bjorn closed the door so hard, the two brothers thought he would break it. Hvitserk sat next to Bjorn, who sat on the front seat and drove home. Ivar even thought that he might punch him after the ride. _'No, he wouldn't do that. He knows I have weak bones. If he were to punch me he would disfigure my face completely. He wouldn't.'_ , he thought to himself.

But he was still feeling uneasy. Bjorn didn't get angry like that. It wasn't him. That wasn't normal, maybe something happened to him. But what made him get so furious? Ivar knew it was his fault, but he was only 40 minutes late...it wasn't so bad.   
  
Was it?   
  
It wasn't like he escaped from home and went to spend the night at a friend's house without telling anybody. On the contrary, he _didn't_ have any friends. And it wasn't even that late! It was just 1:13 p.m! It wasn't dark when all of the weird people of Kattegat would stumble around the streets and did whatever they wanted to do. It wasn't the dangerous hour, as Bjorn said...

Okay, maybe he worried his brother to death again like last time. He didn't like remembering it. Bjorn almost called the police. Sigh, okay. It was bad. He was at a party with "friends". He was drinking, he smoked and some guy kissed him and, no, nothing more happened! He just got high, a little drunk, and he was kissed for the first time! That's all. Though, he didn't remember his name or his face. All he knew is that he claimed that he saw Ivar one day at school, and he started to like him. And he told him he was like, 20 years old, or 21? He didn't know.   
  
Yeah, he wasn't _that_ old. Well, he said that he was 20 or 21 years old. So Ivar can't be sure that he told the truth or not.   
  
Oh...they were home.   
  
Fuck.  
  
Bjorn told Hvitserk to get out of the car, and he immediately obeyed. He went inside the house. Now it was just Bjorn and Ivar. His big brother suddenly went out of the car, opened the back door, and sat down next to him, closing the door normally this time. _'This is even worse!'_ . Bjorn sighed and looked at him. He wasn't as furious as before. But he was still angry. You could tell by his nose, his tightened lips, his hard look, and if you would, his skin color. He was almost red.  
"I am going to speak, and you are going to listen to every word I say. After I talk, I will let you tell me any stupid excuse for the stupid decision you just made, which is going home at an hour I didn't tell you to go." His voice seemed calm. Well, at least he wasn't screaming in his ear. He would be deaf by now.   
  
"Do you know how worried I was when you didn't text or call any of your brothers back? Don't answer the question." Ivar tried not to curl up in embarrassment. He wanted to be punctual because he actually was, but...yeah, something very stupid happened, and he lost track of time. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't. That stupid cat, and that stupid dog, and that stupid, handsome, tall, well-toned, sexy Norse god distracted him, that's all...  
  
"Do you know how stressed I felt when your brothers told me that they didn't know where you were?" Shit. He should have picked up his phone, but he didn't notice that Sigurd called him like, four times and texted him asking if he was okay, or when Hvitserk texted him asking where he was, or when Ubbe called him like six or seven times, or texted him a _lot_ , having like thirty messages telling him that Bjorn was getting worried, asking if he was alright, where he was, what he was doing...cursing and threatening him...well, Bjorn did that most of all. Fifty messages and thirteen missed calls from Bjorn.   
It was terrifying.  
  
"I called you, then I called Ubbe, and I discovered he was having a mental breakdown because of that bitch, I got worried for _all of you because you were not doing what I told you to do_. You were not telling anyone where you were going, or what happened to you. You had us all worried sick." Bjorn noticed he was making his brother uncomfortable. He really didn't care. He was going to make him understand his frustration one way or another. By all the gods, Ragnar should've given him a few hits here and there to make him behave, punish him, spank him, or something, but because Aslaug was a paranoid woman who thought that if someone else even _touched_ Ivar he would break into little pieces, Ragnar didn't do anything. So she wasn't capable at all to discipline her children. Oh, how he wished that his brothers were sons of Lagertha.   
  
"What if something bad happened to you? Huh? What if someone tried to get near you and do something horrible? How do you think that would make us feel? What would father say to me if he were to be alive? Your mother and your father put all of you in my care. And _I_ am responsible for anything that happens to _you_."  
  
Oh...okay, it was bad. He had to admit. He made the situation worse for Bjorn. What if the stranger he met—Heahmund— kidnapped him, or killed him? It would devastate his family even more. His father wanted them to stay united. And they were breaking that promise they made to him. Alright, he admitted that he sometimes was an absolute asshole to his family because his mother smothered him and spoiled him rotten. And he admitted that he sometimes didn't care about his family's wishes because he was being...an idiotic, egoistic fool.  
  
Now, he really didn't know why he was thinking this. Because normally, he would be thinking _"I do not care about your stressed mind or being with my too soft and broken family, I only care about killing the bastard that killed my mother."_  
And to his surprise, he thought that he was being a big stupid idiot with an absolutely big amount of ego. And now he was aware that he was changing. But why?  
"Look at me Ivar." His voice startled him, but he looked at Bjorn in the eye. He was serious. He looked like he was having a mix of feelings, like anger, or worry, or even terror. He understood now. His mother was dead, and he needed to change. That's what the Gods were whispering to him, right? So he would try. Try to be a good brother.   
  
He didn't want to be an example of what uncle Rollo did to Ragnar, but then again, getting angry and being explosive was his nature.   
  
"Do you understand everything I told you?" This time his voice was softer, his eyes looking at Ivar's, sadder, but still serious. He nodded quietly and ducked his head, feeling embarrassed. He hated it when people started giving him life lessons. Too annoying. Bjorn frowned and grabbed his chin to look at his face up close. Ivar looked confused and he felt weirded out. He didn't like it when people did that. Mother would always do that non-stop. Bjorn didn't pay attention to his shocked face. In other circumstances, Ivar would've slapped the hand off of him. Or even try to bite his hand. Bjorn moved Ivar's head to the right, still grabbing his chin gently, and then to the left. This was making Ivar very uncomfortable, so he tried to pull away, but Bjorn just said quietly "Stay still..." with this look in his face that said: **"What the fuck is this?"**. Bjorn looked at his neck, and he pulled the hem of his shirt to see his shoulder, now letting go of his chin.   
Ivar, again, tried to pull away, feeling even more uncomfortable. He hated when people tried to look at everything in his body to see if he was injured or not. He felt like a rag doll that couldn't put on something that covered his body completely. He felt exposed. "Bjorn, let it go, it–"   
  
"I didn't say you could speak, Ivar, now shut up." So he did. He was so embarrassed and uncomfortable, that all he wanted to do was shrink, and hide somewhere so no one could look at him. He hated it when people looked at him! He couldn't stand it! He thought this as he felt Bjorn's fingers around his scalp, looking at every detail on his head. His braided hair was an absolute mess. Ivar hissed when he accidentally touched the scratches that the giant demon-cat did to him.  
  
Bjorn just kept frowning, now looking down at his clothes. His dark blue sweater was covered in dirt, and his black sweatpants were also dirty. His left knee was bleeding, and it stained the fabric, the crimson color turning dark brown. Bjorn, with this shocked, angry, and worried look, crossed his arms and he looked at Ivar, frowning more.   
  
This was going to be a long day.  
  
"Explain everything. Now."   
  
Ivar sighed. Okay...something stupid happened, and he got distracted. Ugh.

Bjorn was going to kill him.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Bjorn didn't look amused. Instead, he looked more serious. Ivar could literally feel his anger all around him. It was a crushing feeling that he felt in his chest. It was horrible.   
"Ivar, I didn't tell you to say that, I told you to explain what happened." Bjorn was beginning to lose his patience.   
  
_'Why is he being so harsh? Ugh.'_ He almost wanted to roll his eyes, but he didn't dare do it. Bjorn would definitely get furious with him. He would be yelling at him all day. And maybe he would lock him in his room, chain him up, lock the window, and treat him like a hostage. Okay, that wouldn't happen, he knew, but it felt like Bjorn would actually do it. He wasn't in the mood for that. Ivar sighed again. "Okay...look, all I wanted to do was sit where we used to go as kids," he looked at Bjorn, his voice full of sincerity.  
  
"So I was just sitting and carving some wood, and when I was about to leave there was suddenly a cat on my back, scratching my shoulders and my face," Ivar pointed at his scratches. Bjorn's expression didn't change. This was going to suck. "And then a dog came out of nowhere, and it wouldn't let me walk away, and between the cat and the dog, I got distracted."   
  
"But then a man came to get his dog, and he helped me get the cat off of my shoulders. And after that, I went running up the slope and I slipped, so that is why I'm covered in dirt."   
Bjorn stayed silent for maybe a minute, looking at him. It was too quiet. Ivar didn't know if he said something that was wrong, so he didn't say anything else.   
  
But Bjorn just kept...silent.  
  
It was too quiet.  
  
He hated this.  
  
"What about that bruise you have on your cheek?"   
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
Bruise? He had a bruise? What?  
"...I didn't notice. Maybe I got it when I slipped. I hit my knee with a rock and my face hit the ground."   
  
Bjorn kept his arms crossed, and he came closer to Ivar, his face closer to his. This meant that Bjorn was trying to convince himself to believe another person. "Are you sure about that?" Ivar frowned.  
  
"Well, yes. I slipped, I fell, and I hit the ground. That's it."  
  
"What about the man?"  
  
Ivar didn't know how to respond, so he had to think something quick. He kind of liked the man, he was friendly and handsome. He had a feeling that Bjorn didn't like it when he said that he met a man, a stranger in fact. _'Maybe he's thinking that Heahmund is a serial killer or something. Yeah, Bjorn would definitely think that'_.

"What about him?  
  
"What else happened?"   
  
"Nothing more."   
  
Bjorn kept looking at him. His face was blank. Ivar was getting impatient. What else could this guy want from him? All he wanted to do at that moment was eat, go to his room and hide so no one would talk to him. He didn't feel like talking or making eye contact with anyone. Ivar sighed. "Look, Bjorn, I'm sorry. It was my fault, I got distracted," he looked at Bjorn, for the first time, with pleading eyes. He was looking like a weak child again, but he was tired, hungry, uncomfortable, and annoyed, so he didn't care.  
"And I am alright."   
  
His brother didn't say anything. This was pointless. This was stupid. Ivar's patience was almost nonexistent by this point, but today he was just ashamed, embarrassed, and feeling awkward. He was definitely changing without realizing it. They both stared at each other blankly. This kind of silence wasn't a good one. It made Ivar's skin crawl.   
  
"Get inside and take a shower. I've had enough." Bjorn said softly. They both went out of the car and Bjorn opened the door with his key. Ivar ran upstairs without looking at his confused brothers that sat around the table, eating lunch. Bjorn just closed the door, grabbed a plate, dropped the food on it, sat down on his chair, and began eating quietly. His brothers weren't sure if this was normal. He always put up a small chat for everyone to feel comfortable while eating. Neither Ubbe, Hvitserk, or Sigurd spoke a word. They just gave small glances at each other awkwardly while eating the food.  
  
This was going to be a long week for all of them.  
  
First, Ivar was late, and that made Bjorn get worried. Then, Ubbe had a big fight with that bitch. After that, Sigurd didn't call him back when he tried to ask about Ivar, then Hvitserk broke his phone again, Ivar met a stranger in the woods, which meant that he could have been murdered or kidnapped or something, and finally, Bjorn's stress was so big, he decided that he was too tired to yell at anybody. He was done. He really didn't care if he was being too harsh with them. They had to grow the fuck up, and stop acting like fucking children for once.   
  
Oh, and that bruise Ivar had on his face? He was sure that the stranger he met did it. Not many people were good in Kattegat. And Ivar was good at lying, but Bjorn could always see through him. He was hiding something. But he will let it slide for now. He will ask again another time, if he caught Ivar lying or acting weird, like today.   
  
He will figure out whatever he's hiding.   
  
____  
  
As Ivar ran upstairs to his room with a twisted feeling in his chest, he already wanted to hide and never be found again. He opened his door and as he walked into his room, he slammed the door behind him. He sighed and fell forward on his bed. Ivar really didn't want to stay there. It was just 1:36 p.m. All he wanted to do was stay outside and carve some wood. He wanted to eat, but Bjorn and his brothers were in the dining room, and his big brother who's furious and quiet will not let him eat in his bedroom. So he had to walk downstairs and eat as quickly as possible. 'Ugh, why me? It wasn't my fault!'. He sighed, sat up on the bed and grabbed his bag that he took with him to his favorite place, took his phone out, his earplugs, and his little knife out.   
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
Where was the bear he carved?  
  
'You have to be kidding me. This is not happening, no way! I worked so hard to do it!'   
  
Shit. Now Bjorn's present is lost somewhere. He paid for that. This is not fair! Why was this happening?! He looked frantically inside his bag again, and again to see if he was wrong. _'No, no, no, no, no...Come on! Fuck!'_. And you would be thinking, **"What's wrong with losing a piece of wood?".** Well, for starters, he bought it. He could've used that money to maybe buy a new shampoo or something, but no, he bought a piece of wood to carve it into a shape of a bear just to give it to Bjorn on his birthday. Now his brother is mad, and he _won't_ accept anything from him unless Ivar did what he told him to do, which is fine, but today it wasn't his fault! He was about to go home when he had to, but nooooooo, a stupid cat, a stupid dog, and a stupidly handsome man stopped him from having a good relationship with his brother Bjorn. Great.   
  
Wonderful.   
  
Ivar sighed, feeling already defeated by this strange day. _'I should just go take a shower.'_ And so he did. He, for starters, took his sweet time taking that warm shower. He decided to think about something else. Which there wasn't any other thing to think of, so he was fucked. When he finished washing, he took a step forward to get out of the bathtub. And he slipped. He yelled in pain as he felt his bottom hit the bathtub as well as his lower back, and in the process, his right arm hit the bottle of shampoo, making it fall on his face. Which hurt more because of the bruise he had on his cheek. He groaned in pain, getting angrier by the second he processed everything that happened. "Fuck off!", he yelled and threw the open bottle of shampoo somewhere in the bathroom, the liquid spilling everywhere on the floor.   
  
Then he heard footsteps.  
  
"Ivar?"  
  
Great. Now what? 

Ubbe entered his bedroom, calling out to him. "Ivar, you alright, buddy? Where are you?". 

_'Ubbe, you stupid_ _idiot.'_

Ivar sighed. "Where _else_ would I be, idiot?" This was so annoying. He sighed again and got up, but he didn't notice that his brother was walking into the bathroom, now recalling that he threw the shampoo somewhere in the bathroom. Ubbe was smiling, amused as he saw Ivar covering himself with the curtain, "Okay, okay, no need to get so-"

"Wait, Ubbe, don't-"

They couldn't finish his sentence because he slipped and fell on this back "Shit!". Ivar was trying to hold his laugh, snorting and smiling, covering his mouth and nose with his hand, but as he took a step forward to grab his towel, he, again, slipped and fell on his bottom. "Ow! shit!". He hissed and grabbed his towel quickly to put it on the floor before they could fall again. Ubbe was groaning and rubbing his lower back, still laying on the floor. "Stop being such a drama queen, idiot.", Ivar smirked at his brother's poor acting. Ubbe would always find a way to make him feel better. Ubbe smiled and laughed as he looked at Ivar, sitting on the floor, naked. Oh, how his big brother would've loved to take a pic of that for blackmail. Ivar noticed this and quickly got up to get another towel. He slipped. Again. As he began slipping, Ubbe giggled and laughed out loud, but he didn't notice that his brother was going to land right on top of him. 

And this time he groaned in _pain._ "Fuck..." He had Ivar's back on his chest, and they both groaned in pain. "Ow, ow, ow Ivar! Get off!" 

"I'm trying, you idiot!" 

They were startled by, " _Why the fuck are you taking so-"._ Sigurd stopped in his tracks to look at the situation. And there they spent three long minutes, looking at each other, shocked. Ivar, with his big blue eyes, daring at Sigurd that if he did anything stupid, he would regret it. Ubbe was very sure that he wasn't the one who would use this as blackmail, and Sigurd just watched them with his big dumb monkey face, his mouth open as he tried to process what was happening. He slowly grabbed his phone out. "Wait, Sigurd-"

"SIGURD, NO-"

"WAIT WAIT WAIT-"

"NONONONO-"

_Click! click! click! click!_

"You're dead, Sigurd!", Ivar yelled as Sigurd quickly ran out of the bathroom to got downstairs, his laugh resonating from everywhere in the house. Ubbe yelled at Ivar, "This is your fault!". Ivar glared at Ubbe, "No, this is your fault because _you_ decided to go inside _my_ bathroom!". 

"You didn't try to stop that dumb idiot from taking pictures! What will my friends think about me having some dumb baby brother naked on top of me?!"

"I have it worse! I'm naked! You stupid disgusting hairy dog!" 

They didn't notice their yelling could be heard from downstairs. Sigurd just kept laughing in his bedroom, Hvitserk wanted to laugh, but Bjorn glared at everything near him, annoyed that no one was taking this day seriously. He sighed, and when he was about to get up from his seat, Hvitserk got up first and told him that he would go. He didn't want to be near Bjorn all day anyway. So he went running upstairs to Ivar's bedroom, to the bathroom. 

"Get off of me Ivar! Just get a towel!" 

"If I get up I will slip again!"

"No, you won't! Just get up and stop acting like a baby!" 

Ivar got up slowly and he grabbed the corner of the sink to stay put. Ubbe could finally get up, and he quickly but cautiously got out of that wretched bathroom. Ivar grabbed a towel and quickly covered himself, blushing from the embarrassment of someone seeing him naked. His brothers saw him, which was worse. "Shit..." He cautiously got out of his bathroom just to bump into Hvitserk's chest. _'Ugh, why are all of you idiots invading my personal space and my privacy? Don't you have anything else to do?'._

"What?" 

"Bjorn wants you downstairs right now. I wouldn't make him wait any longer. Goof luck." And he left Ivar alone as quickly as he could, hiding in his bedroom, bracing himself, feeling very uncomfortable. In other circumstances, Hvitserk would have been watching the discussion and laughing about it. But this time this was serious. Ivar thought that this wasn't like Hvitserk at all. He knew something was wrong. He really didn't want to talk with Bjorn. He even lost his appetite. _'Good luck...not today...'._

A few minutes later, now clean and dressed, Ivar went downstairs to sit on his usual seat in the dining room. He didn't say anything. He just sat down and began eating his now cold food. It was enough, though. He decided to eat it that way, just to make things faster and get this over with as quickly as possible. Two minutes later after eating, he just looked at his empty plate. He didn't dare get up from his seat, having Bjorn just in front of him. Usually, he would sit next to him, but this time he sat on Ubbe's seat. Ivar didn't want to face him. Not today, nor tomorrow. 

"Look at me." 

But now he was fucked. Again. So he did. He slowly looked up at Bjorn's face, feeling nervous enough to want to look at something else. Bjorn didn't say anything for a few long seconds. Ivar didn't really know what he was going to say, so he braced himself and tried to gain courage from this. He was just his brother. Not a stranger, not his uncle. Just his brother. But he had to admit that he was changing. And it scared the hell out of him. 

"I really didn't want to do this to you Ivar,"

Oh no. Here it is. The punishment. 

"But I must warn you about this."

Ivar bit his lip without noticing and nodded, getting very nervous. "There is a big chance that this month people in Kattegat will get hurt by strangers who don't live here. I didn't want to tell you this but...you have to know."

What? What does he mean? 

Ivar looked confused, looking at Bjorn. His big brother just sighed. "You know that father had a big company, right? And Floki works with him to transport supplies to other countries, right?" Ivar nodded slowly, still not understanding why this has to do with what happened today. "Father got a call from uncle Rollo a few years back when you were maybe fifteen." 

"I get that you don't know what uncle Rollo works as."

He shook his head. 

"He's a drug dealer. And he has a big company in France. He called Ragnar one day to get help from him, and father refused. And between his grudge with two other companies in England and uncle Rollo's mafia, he became stressed. Forensics say that he died from that. I don't believe them." 

Ivar looked at him with a surprised face, and when he was about to speak, he was interrupted. "Ragnar didn't want to cooperate with uncle Rollo. A few months later, Athelstan, our father's best friend was killed while he was sleeping. No one knows who did it, but I suspect that it was one of Rollo's men. As well as Floki and Helga. They almost got killed by some bandits a few years back."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I was there when uncle Rollo and Ragnar fought with each other in a meeting. Rollo said that he would pay for not helping him. He even tried to manipulate me and your brothers to help him with his company. We refused. So he threatened us all." Bjorn stayed quiet for a moment, letting Ivar process what he just told him. It was just so out of the blue! One moment, Bjorn was lecturing him about the rules he put because Ivar disobeyed him, and now he's telling him something that not even Aslaug told him. What does this have to do with what happened today?! This doesn't make any sense!

"So...let me get this straight. Uncle Rollo has a big company filled with drugs, and he wanted Ragnar to help him. So father refused, Rollo put a fight with him and threatened all of us just because of that? And then father's friend was killed? Is that it?" 

"There's more."

"Okay, but what does this have to do with what happened today?"

"Patience, Ivar. We'll get to that in a second." Ivar nodded. He was really curious now. Just like his father was. Bjorn was feeling such pressure in his chest, that he almost wanted to call out to his father. He was getting pale, he was sweating, and he looked like he hadn't slept in days, even though all of this stress was generated that same day. He saw a lot of Ragnar in Ivar. His explosive, mischievous, curious side. All he wanted to do was talk to his father just to give him some advice. He sighed. Here goes nothing...

"After Athelstan was killed, Ragnar had no choice but to help Rollo. And between the other two companies, ruled by the "The Two Kings", as everyone called them. The famous King Aelle and the other king's name was Egbert. They were actually scumbags. Father wanted them to help him, but he had to help them instead. Those two only wanted our company out of the way because it was wealthy and stronger than theirs." 

"And what did they do?" 

"They relied on Rollo, so Ragnar had to serve three companies. The thing was that Egbert wanted Aelle out of the way, too. He became friends with father after Athelstan died. So Egbert told Rollo that Aelle had to go. A few months later, Aelle was dead. And a year later, Ragnar wanted to stop helping Rollo. So he talked with Ecbert. Ecbert was dead weeks after Ragnar talked to him." 

"And then...?" 

"Then Ragnar built up some courage. He refused to help Rollo when more enemies were against him. A few years later, he died of stress. Now Aslaug is dead. And I think it's no coincidence that someone killed her. I think that Harbard know's something we don't."

"So you think this is a warning from uncle Rollo? Are you saying that our uncle, our family, is sending his people to Kattegat to hurt us? What does he want?" 

"I didn't want you to think about this at your age, but we have to be more cautious, Ivar. If you ever see someone who isn't from Kattegat, you tell me, okay? This is serious. All he wants is us, Ivar. He wants us to help him. Neither of us wants that." 

Bjorn stayed silent after this. But he didn't want to scare Ivar too much. He was just a kid. A kid with a brilliant mind that is. He didn't want to tell him what Rollo said to him in Aslaug's funeral. It would devastate him. He was worried for everyone, even himself. The secrets of his family were too many. Too many problems. He was scared. He was terrified. If he disappeared from Ivar's side just for a second, leaving him alone...

Rollo would definitely use that problem. He had to show that he could take care of his brothers, especially Ivar. 

Or he wouldn't be his legal guardian anymore. 

He would lose Ivar. 

He promised Ragnar. 

"You can go now. You're grounded for a week inside the house. If someone knocks on the door while I and your brothers are gone, you call us immediately. Got it?" 

Ivar nodded and he got up. Feeling nervous and confused as to what Bjorn has told him. "Come here, Ivar.". Ivar slowly made his way to Bjorn, and suddenly he was wrapped by strong arms and was pulled to a broad chest. The bear hug, as Bjorn called it. "I'm sorry for being so harsh with you. I was just so scared that something might've happened to you. Please don't do that ever again, you hear me?" 

Ivar nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry too.", he said quietly. They broke the hug and Bjorn sighed. " You can go now." Ivar nodded and he went upstairs. This was indeed a weird day. 

Bjorn rubbed his face, still so very tired. Now he had to speak to Hvitserk. 

Now...how to deal with him? 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if I had any typos with this chapter, I'm trying to edit it, but it won't let me :( I'm so sorry. ;-;


End file.
